Are you raked with sudden crying spells or suddenly feel overcome with sadness and emotion, despite no apparent cause for your deep feelings? Sometimes this has nothing to do with your mental state at all but is a reaction to changes happening in your body.
Let’s take a closer look at what exactly is causing your uncontrollable crying so that if you can’t change it, at least you can work to better understand what is happening with your body and mind. This will help you better manage your emotions and understand what is happening the next time you find yourself on the verge of tears.
Hormones
A change in hormones is one of the most common causes of emotional responses, such as crying. An increase in testosterone can actually work to inhibit crying while prolactin can work to increase the crying response. Hormones can be affected by your stress levels, amount of sleep, and medications.
The major hormonal changes experienced in pregnancy and puberty also lead to an increase in teary reactions during these stages of life. Hormone changes can also lead to other emotional changes, such as becoming irritated more easily or experiencing extreme mood swings. Regular exercise can help to work out these conflicting emotions, rather than letting them destroy relationships.
Stress and Anxiety
An intense consistent feeling of stress and anxiety can lead to these pent-up feelings being expressed through crying. In addition to increased episodes of crying during periods of stress and anxiety you may also suffer from sweaty palms, tense muscles, trouble sleeping, headaches and digestion problems.
It is important to identify the cause of stress in life and work to ensure that it doesn’t become an unmanageable burden.
Exhaustion
If you haven’t been sleeping well lately, you might also find that you’re quick to bubble over when it comes to crying. The recommended nightly amount of sleep for adults is between seven and nine hours and those who have unusual sleep patterns, such as night shift workers, doctors and nurses, may find that they simply aren’t getting enough rest.
It can be very difficult to change sleeping patterns so a strict sleeping schedule and lights out routine may need to be implemented while switching off all electronic devices at a certain hour will also help. A serious lack of sleep for a sustained period of time can lead to more fatal consequences later down the line, such as stroke or heart attacks.
Poor Eating Habits
Believe it or not, bad dietary decisions can also affect your emotional wellbeing. Foods packed in sugar can give a rush of happiness but can cause you to come crashing back to reality in a flood of tears.
You also want to keep your body sustained throughout the day to ensure your blood sugar levels stay consistent, which means planning regular mealtimes and not skipping lunch or breakfast because you are too busy. If necessary, be sure to plan healthy, balanced meals the night before a very hectic day.